


Slingshot

by dottieapple



Series: Li'l Stucky Adventures [4]
Category: Captain America (Comics), Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: Arnie Roth is a Good Bro, Bad handling of slingshot, Because Steve and Bucky are kiddos, Brooklyn Boys, Fluff, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Hurt/Comfort, Innocent blooming love, M/M, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Pre-War, Pre-World War II Bucky Barnes, Troublemaking, just a little, kid!Bucky, kid!steve, sarah rogers is a good mom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2018-11-08
Packaged: 2019-08-20 20:17:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16562447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dottieapple/pseuds/dottieapple
Summary: In the Spring of 1927, Steve and Bucky are goofing off with the neighborhood kids when an accident happens. Can little Bucky handle his guilt? Will little Stevie be okay? Will the obnoxious neighborhood bully ever shut up?





	Slingshot

**Author's Note:**

> I could be working on any of a number of other projects, but today I bring you the first chapter of another Li'l' Stucky adventure! 
> 
> Squee with me about my fandoms (and occasionally shirtless people within them) on Tumblr at [DottieApple's NerdSmut FanTrash Emporium!](https://dottieapple.tumblr.com)

**Spring, 1927**

“Oh no, oh no, oh no,” Bucky Barnes repeated to himself, dread knotting his stomach as he ran across the vacant lot where his best friend was laid out on the ground. “No, no, no, no.” 

His heart was pounding as he came to a screeching halt next to the seemingly unresponsive body of Steve Rogers--small, pale, and now bleeding from a cut above his eyebrow, near his temple. “Steve?” His almost-concave chest rose and fell; he was breathing, at least. Bucky knew that was good. 

He’d been an idiot, sure, but this was no time to get upset. Bucky felt like he should be gentle and lean in, but not with the entire block watching him. He crouched down, worrying at the inside of his lip with his teeth. “Stevie,” he whispered, nearly inaudible. Bucky opted to slap his hands onto his best friend’s bony shoulders and give him a shake, shouting this time, “Steve! Say something!”

The other neighborhood kids came running up behind Bucky, their adventures forgotten for the moment. 

“Jesus, is that Steve?” asked Arnie Roth. “Barnes, what did you do to him?”

“I didn’t mean to!” Bucky choked out, defensive, rubbing back and forth at Steve’s scrawny forearm. Anger was beginning to boil through Bucky’s veins. All these kids from the block sticking their noses into the situation, not a single one offering to help.

Arnie looked panicked. “I thought you were friends, Bucky!” 

“Is he...is he dead?” asked a girl with long brown pigtails, her eyes widening.

“That’s not helpful, Kathleen!” Bucky fired back. “He’s still breathing. There...there must’ve been a rock? I didn’t know he was gonna jump right in front of--” He didn’t finish.

It had all been an accident. Bucky was goofing off with his slingshot, so he picked up a clod of dirt and fired toward Steve. He hadn’t bothered to aim much: he had figured it would whiz by Steve’s head. Ultimately, it would’ve smashed spectacularly against the wooden fence behind him, startling Steve and making him yelp, “Geez, Buck!” in that way that Bucky thought was a riot. 

The other kids were circling Steve now, mostly stating the obvious: _Doris’ brother hit her sister in the head that one time but she didn’t pass out. Remember when Charlie crashed his sled in Prospect Park last winter against that tree, is it like that? Rogers probably tripped and fell, he does that all the time._

Arnie sidled up to Bucky, apologizing quietly. “Sorry, pal. I didn’t mean to blame you.” Bucky nodded and gave Arnie a quick pat on the back. They were usually the two who would stand up for Steve when it came down to brass tacks. “But I think I’ll stay behind you if you pull out the slingshot again.” 

Charlie could never keep his mouth shut, and he also never had anything good to say. “Good job, Barnes. You finally put him down! Little pain in the ass.” 

Bucky felt drawn just as tight as his slingshot had been as he knelt by his best friend. Steve finally groaned and opened his eyes, slowly blinking a few times. “Steve? You with me?”

Steve coughed a couple of times, then frowned at Bucky. He raised his hand to his forehead. “Ouch.” He touched his bloody wound and looked at his hand. The blood streaked down his face to his jaw. He turned a bit paler but didn’t get up from the ground. “What the heck…?”

“It was an accident, Steve. I didn’t really aim the slingshot.” 

“You _what_?” Steve’s head lolled back onto the ground. He held both hands up to his head now, a hurt sound coming from the back of his throat. “You hit me?”

Now that Steve was looking around and making unhappy noises, some of the onlookers thinned out. “You guys! Barnes shot his best friend in the head with a slingshot!” Charlie pointed out as his little cronies from the fifth grade snickered around him. “Sorry little Stevie, even your best friend wants to knock your lights out.” He drew out Steve’s nickname to make it sound as babyish as possible.

Bucky could hear his pulse pounding in his ears. His small hands tightened into fists with his fingernails digging into his palms. His chest began to heave. No one called Steven Grant Rogers ‘Stevie’ except for Bucky and Steve’s ma. 

“C’mon, fellas, he said it was an accident. Back off so Bucky can take Steve home,” Arnie tried, attempting to deflect the rowdy bunch. His pleas fell on mostly deaf ears, as the mean kids continued to throw taunts at Steve.

As the head of the gang, Charlie wouldn’t back down. “Little Stevie can’t even walk it off himself,” he howled. “Bucky, bring me my homework! Come put a cold cloth on my head because my ma’s never home to kiss it better!” 

Bucky watched Steve cringe, trying to get up from the ground, obviously shaken. Charlie stepped into Bucky’s personal space, green eyes aglow with something evil. “C’mon Barnes, why don’t you get yourself some real friends. Or go play house with your little sister if you just wanna take care of babies all the time. You can take turns being the mommy!” 

Bucky growled and jumped to his feet. He squared up to Charlie, wishing he could rip out a tuft of his uncontrolled red hair, wanting to wipe that teasing, fake smile off his freckled face. “Aww, what, you gonna hit me,  _little boy_?”

That was the moment Bucky’s fist connected with the redheaded boy’s jaw. Then, he kicked, landing the point of his shoe straight into the kid’s shin. The redhead made a strangled noise but didn’t shout. He was angling to hit right back until a woman’s heavily Irish-accented voice came from a window directly above.    
  
“Charles! Kathleen! Come in and wash up for dinner. Hurry it up, your father’s waiting!” Charlie froze in place. Bucky blinked up at the sky--it was later than he realized. The nasty redhead was already on the run, chasing his taller sister. 

A bony hand touched Bucky’s shoulder. “Bucky?” He turned around and Steve was there, standing up, the blood on his face turned brownish and dry around the edges. He didn’t seem very steady on his feet.

Bucky scoped out the lot, and most of the kids had either moved on or were turning home for dinner with their families. “Coast is clear now, Steve. Let’s get you home to your ma.” 

Steve threw his hands up in victory, beaming, a battered ray of sunshine. “I can’t believe you punched Charlie like that!” 

“Had it comin’, Stevie. ” Bucky wiped his dirty hands off on his pants. Steve nodded, then wobbled, grabbing at Bucky’s arm to steady himself. “Whoa, easy there pal. Can you walk?”

“Been doing it for years.” Steve started to walk away, then nearly lost his balance. He straightened up, clutching his bruising temple, and waited for his best friend to catch up. Steve’s eyes seemed wet, and he blinked more than usual. Bucky slid his arm under Steve’s and across the back of his shoulders. “ _ Ow! _ Buck, what did you do? My head is killin’ me. And could ya stand up straight and hold still? It’s like the ground keeps tilting back and forth.” 

Bucky’s eyes widened in alarm. His feet were planted firmly in the dirt. Bucky's heart pounded, and he wondered if this was how Steve felt sometimes--scared, just on the edge of not knowing what to do when something didn’t feel right. 

Steve looked paler than usual, even without taking the blooming bruise on his face into account. Bucky frantically constructed a plan. “You...you don’t look so good, Stevie. Lemme give you a piggyback ride home.”

**Author's Note:**

> Steve may be tiny, but he's a wee stubborn thing. Will Bucky get him home? Will Sarah be mad? Will Bucky ever be allowed to go out with Steve again? Stay tuned!
> 
> xo,  
> Dottie


End file.
